Max Elskamp, (born May 5, 1862, Antwerp, Belg.—died Dec. 10, 1931, Antwerp) one of the outstanding Belgian Symbolist poets, whose material was the everyday life and folklore of his native city. He was a sincere Roman Catholic, and his poems often reflect his religious sentiments.

Of a well-to-do family, Elskamp also was something of a dilettante and illustrated his works with his own woodcuts. Like most Belgian poets of his generation, he was deeply influenced by literary developments in France; he had personal contacts with both Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé. Nevertheless, his religious themes are distinctly Belgian in inspiration. Elskamp’s writing repeatedly evoked the simple yet colourful religious experiences of his fellow Catholics and their daily life. In a synthesis of Symbolist tradition and the spirituality of Art Nouveau, Elskamp employed a poetic idiom in harmony with these subjects and interspersed with archaic turns of phrase. He also echoed the rhythms of the litanies and liturgies of the church. His best poetry is contained in a series of collections: Sous les tentes de l’Exode (1921; “Under the Tents of Exodus”), Chansons désabusées (1922; “Songs of Disillusionment”), and La Chanson de la rue Saint-Paul (1922; “The Song of Rue Saint-Paul”). In his later years Elskamp became melancholic and withdrawn, but the spirit of his most characteristic and successful work is summed up by the title of his first collection, La Louange de la vie (1898; “The Praise of Life”).

Learn More in these related articles:

a loosely organized literary and artistic movement that originated with a group of French poets in the late 19th century, spread to painting and the theatre, and influenced the European and American literatures of the 20th century to varying degrees. Symbolist artists sought to express individual...

March 30, 1844 Metz, France January 8, 1896 Paris French lyric poet first associated with the Parnassians and later known as a leader of the Symbolists. With Stéphane Mallarmé and Charles Baudelaire he formed the so-called Decadents.